by Kelly Barnhill A baby is taken from her screaming mother to be left in the woods for the (make believe) witch in the annual Day of Sacrifice. The (very real) witch rescues an abandoned baby and feeds her starlight on the way to finding her a new, loving home. Except that she accidentally feeds […]
by Scott O’Dell Karana’s people have always lived undisturbed on the Island of the Blue Dolphins—that is, until the Aleuts came to hunt otter and ended up killing half of the villagers. The rest of the villagers welcome the chance to leave the island a couple of years later when a ship comes to take […]
by Sharon Creech Sal goes on a 6-day road trip across the country with her grandparents to see the truth of her mother’s disappearance for herself. On the way, she tells them the story of her friend Phoebe, which parallels her own and helps her process the events of her own life. This book was […]
by Robert C. O’Brien Mrs. Frisby’s youngest son Timothy is ill, too ill to leave their cinderblock mouse house. Unfortunately, the house is in the middle of a field that the farmer is going to plow in less than a week, which will destroy the house—and anyone in it. Can Mrs. Frisby find anyone able […]
by Lois Lowry Jonas has grown up in an “ideal,” well-ordered community, where life is easy and comfortable and everyone is always polite. When, at 12, his classmates are assigned to their adult jobs for training, Jonas is not assigned. Instead he is selected to be the next Receiver of Memory. He learns from the […]
by Robin McKinley Aerin is the king’s daughter, but her mother was a mysterious “witchwoman” of the North, and her father’s people will not let her forget it. When her father’s kingdom is under attack and the last of the great dragons has awoken, can Aerin rise to the challenge and save the kingdom that […]
by Will James This book is the story of a wild range horse, Smoky, from birth through his time helping his favorite cowboy wrangle cattle and beyond, offering a look at cowboy culture and the life of a horse in the west from a horse’s perspective. Despite the fact that the horse’s perspective is very […]
by Eric P. Kelly When Joseph’s family home is destroyed by enemies, he and his family must flee to Krakow. But why are evil men after them, and who is really behind it? And what is the family secret that is for the king of Poland’s ears alone? I was pleasantly surprised by this story. […]
by Charles Hawes Philip Marsham goes to sea as an honest sailor in a merchant fishing vessel, which is taken by pirates in the Atlantic. Forced to join them or die, Philip and the crew have a series of misadventures before they are captured by a British naval ship and brought back to England for […]
by Charles J. Finger This is a collection of folktales from South America. The author learned the tales from native storytellers during his own travels. I love fairy- and folktales, telling how things came to be the way they are, animals talking… This book has all of that. Each of the stories was new and […]